Educate us better, Mr PM

BY Garth A. Rattray

The job of prime minister is an unenviable one. The holder of this high office is literally in the (administrative and moral) driver's seat. He/she helps in no small way to set the standards of our society. The consequences of his/her actions have far-reaching implications for patriotism, the way people interact with one another, do business, obey the law and even pay taxes.

The psychological effect of citizens observing their leader(s) manipulating or ignoring the rules that govern our country for the sake of politics and the apparent 'rewarding' of unethical acts will ultimately undermine our moral foundation.

I was, therefore, extremely concerned for the 'education' (the message and moral values) that we were given when the former prime minister confessed publicly to knowing, beforehand, that five of his members of parliament were in breach of Chapter V, Part 1, Section 40 (2)a of the Constitution of Jamaica ("No person shall be qualified to be appointed as a senator or elected as a member of the House of Representatives who (a) is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.").

Because of a very slim advantage in Parliament, he chose to ignore the Constitution of Jamaica for the expedience of ensuring and retaining power. It, therefore, came as no surprise when he used it to fight the now-infamous extradition request and then turned right around and used it again to succumb to pressure brought to bear by the government of the United States and a frustrated and exhausted populace yearning for a modicum of rectitude within society. The supposedly sacrosanct Constitution of Jamaica was reduced to a mere suggestion of the rules and regulations by which we should abide.

Constitutional transgression

The current prime minister (and minister of defence) has taken on to himself the Ministry of Education with which he is very familiar and through which I suspect he plans to leave his legacy. I am now wondering what our people are learning from his promotion of the former state minister in the Office of the Prime Minister and MP of North East St Ann to minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Housing, Environment, Water and Local Government.

She has been an MP since her historic by-election win on Thursday, March 8, 2001, when she broke the People's National Party (PNP) hold on what was then considered to be a PNP 'safe seat'.However, while serving in Parliament, she acquired United States citizenship through naturalisation on January 21, 2006. She said that she thought that handing in her US passport to the Immigration and Naturalisation Services Office in Miami, in June 2007 (prior to nomination day August 7, 2007), was sufficient to renounce her US citizenship, but it took legal action to reveal the facts. She finally relinquished her US citizenship on October 19, 2010. She was forced to vacate her seat, but she regained it in a December 20, 2010 by-election.

She is obviously an invaluable part of the Jamaica Labour Party team, so her constitutional transgression has been glossed over and pushed aside without the slightest hint of consequences from the party. Instead, it has been made to seem as if critics of her actions in this matter are making much ado about nothing, and she has been promoted.

I am NOT saying that the MP from North East St Ann should be ostracised or even penalised, but there should have been some visible disciplinary repercussions (even a public apology) before her promotion. Politics should never overshadow the Constitution of Jamaica.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.